Kansas City
No. 1 New Mexico State
Aggies Use Late First Half Run to Get Past Roos in WAC Semifinals
3/12/2016 12:23:00 AM | Men's Basketball
(Las Vegas, Nev.) - New Mexico State showed why it was the No. 1 seed on Friday night in the WAC Tournament semifinals, hitting guarded shots on the way to a 78-64 win over UMKC, ending the Roos' hopes for a conference title.
“I though their size and their depth caused us problems, making it tough to finish at the rim, as well as their offensive rebounding,” Head Coach Kareem Richardson said. “Our guys certainly played with a lot of effort, and I was really proud of our guys' effort.”
UMKC (12-19) was right with the Aggies (23-9) in the opening 10 minutes of the game, and led 21-20 on a pair of Martez Harrison free throws with 9:36 on the clock. After that the offense went cold though, scoring only five points the rest of the half. During that time NMSU scored 22 points, led by first-team All-WAC guard Ian Baker, who tallied 14 points.
The Aggies were on fire from three-point range as well, hitting seven of them in the opening period. Coming into the tournament, NMSU was averaging only five made threes per game. They also shot 50 percent from the field, while holding UMKC to only 35 percent. NMSU also doubled up UMKC on the glass, 22-11.
Kyle Steward was the bright spot in the half for UMKC, hitting for 11 points. Despite getting into the bonus with over nine minutes remaining, the Roos only shot nine free throws.
The Roos could never quite get back in the hunt in the second half, with NMSU answering each time they tried to mount a rally. The Aggies pushed their lead to as many as 23 points with 7:49 to play, and the closest UMKC could get down the stretch was 14, with under a minute to play.
The Aggies scored 14 points from offensive rebounds in the final period, and took a commanding 40-28 advantage in rebounding on the night.
The Roos were led by 23 points from LaVell Boyd, who scored 17 of those in the final half. Harrison finished with 15 points, scoring 12 in the second stanza. Steward matched a career-high with 15 points as well.
